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first down
Saturday, november 12, 1977
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Modern machines keep
Huskers in good shape
Tom Scrley (12), given good pass protection here by tackle Stan Waldemore (62)
and fullback Dodie Donnell (45), probably will sit out today with bruised ribs.
By Jim Kay
With all the injuries suffered by Nebras
ka in last week's win over Missouri, UNL
Head Coach Tom Osborne must be rolling
his eyes when looking at his walking
wounded.
But if Osborne were to talk to student
trainer Mark Heinz, he may feel a bit more
comforted.
Heinz, one of 1 1 student trainers work
ing under head trainers George Sullivan and
Jerry Weber, said UNL's training facilities
are among the finest in the country.
"With this equipment we can cut an ath
lete's rehabilitation time considerably,"
Heinz said. Two of the newer pieces
'acquired by the Athletic Dept. are the
Cybek and the Orthatron.
'With the Cybek we can take an athlete
and' pinpoint exactly where he's injured,"
Heinz said. "If an athlete has a knee strain
and hasn't made any progress after other
physical therapy treatment, it will tell us
what the problem is, if there is one. We can
also tell the percentage of his strength
where the injury is."
He said the machines give the trainers
more control in the athlete's rehabilitation.
"It's great for ankles, shoulders and
knees," he said. "Before with knee injuries
all we could do was get him out to do leg
work and work on the weights. Now we
can tell his range of motion and things like
that."
Hamstring injuries are not as big a prob
lem as in the past because of the ultra
sound machine, Heinz said.
"The ultrasound works on the same
4 principle as the microwave oven," he said.
"We put a transfer gel on the injured area.
High frequency sound waves from the
machine go onto the skin where the gel is
and can go clear to the bone. It heats the
injured tissues. It could be dangerous, but
it really works well."
Heinz. said another machine good for
muscle pulls is the hydroculator. But he
added it wasn't as effective as the ultra-
-
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sound and is good for heat penetration of
only one-fourth to three-eighths inch.
"The trainers utilize a number of differ
ent size whirlpools," Heinz said, "some
with hot water and some with cold. And
some are for knees and others for ankles.
The contrast bath uses both hot and cold
water to create fluid action and get fluid in
the body moving. That's good for reducing
swelling."
He said hand and finger injuries are us
ually treated in a paraffin bath, "which is
literally melted wax."
Though the Huskers were banged up
last Saturday, most injuries are avoided be
cause of preventive taping, according to
Heinz.
"The players are taped every day," he
said. "Taping for practice, which starts at
3, usually gets hot and heavy around 1 . We
do ankles, knees and shoulders then, and
have about a 20-minute session for hands
after the player meetings."
Heinz said different tapes are used for
the preventive taping.
"We use a combination of elastic and
white tape," he said, "except for those
who have a history of injury problems. We
use straight white tape on them. For shoul
ders and knees we use elastic tape."
Cost for the daily taping is high, Heinz
said. .
"Our taping bill for varsity and fresh
man programs, is about $500 a day," he
said. "We just got a shipment of 100 cases
of white tape in, and we're expecting 300
cases of elastic. We'll probably use about
1,000 cases all together (for football) and
1,500 to 2,000 cases of all varieties for all
sports."
Heinz said the Huskers spent about
. $40,000 on tape between the final season
game and the Sugar Bowl contest in 1974.
Not all the players need to be taped, he
added. "Isaiah Hipp is never taped," he
said. "Some guys just never have any
problems."
Heinz is in his fourth year as a student
trainer. He said he spent his first three
years working in the freshman program.
"George and Jerry work ,from about
7 a.m. to about 7 every night," he said.
"We (the student trainers) usually work
from 1 to 6, which is a fair day's work."
ii III Jii t di l J
Randy Garcia (18) has completed 45.6 per cent of his passes this year for 544 yards and three touchdowns.
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